Means for operating railway-switches.



6 No. 784,657. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

R. 0. BULLOUGH. MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20.1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WI TIIESSES: "IVE/(T01? s ATTORNEY.

PATENTED MARQM, 1905.

R. O. BULLOUGH. MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20. 1904.

ZSHEETS-SHEET 2.

I &|

vn m m m N" N R m L mag mm Ry w G B J H n I llll 3,

I WITNESSES: 4/4 6 fmrfl Patented March 14, 1905.

ROBERT OROSSLEY BULLOUGH, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

MEANS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY-SWITCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,657, dated March14, 1905.

Application filed July 20, 1904. Serial No. 217,309.

To all whom it may concern:

proaching car or vehicle. Such apparatus comprises as an essentialfeature a wheel or other equivalent rotatable part which is capable ofbeing moved through half a revolution, or an angle of one hundred andeighty degrees, upon the passage of a vehicle by some convenient deviceattached to the vehicle. This operating- Wheel or the like has teeth orprojections and is formed with a crank-pin, eccentric, or eq uivalent,which is connected by suitable rod or other gearing with thepoint-tongue which is to be operated. The wheel is always rotated orpartly rotated in the same direction on the approach or passage of acar, and when desired, and the crank-pin, eccentric, or the like is sodisposed that by one semirotation of the wheel the point-tongue is movedin one direction and by the next semirotation the point-tongue is movedin the reverse direction. The upper part of the periphery of theoperating-wheel is preferably placed in the bottom of the groove in therail, in which the groove and, if desired, the guard also is or arecutaway so that the operating device from the car may come intoefficient contact with the wheel. The Wheel itself may be directlyoperated from the vehicle, or it may be geared to some other wheel 01'part which is directly operated.

The device on the car for engaging with or effecting the semirotation ofthe operatingwheel may consist of a plunger, hook, tooth,

rack, or other part which may at will be depressed by the driver intothe groove to engage with and operate the wheel. This plunger or thelike may beflexible or be provided with springs, so as to avoidunnecessary shocks. One or more may be provided at each end of the carfor engagement with either rail.

The mechanism for transmitting the motion of the wheel to thepoint-tongue consists of a sliding or longitudinally reciprocable con:necting-rod which is connected to the crankpin, eccentric, or equivalenton the wheel and at the other end to the point-tongue. The connection ofthis rod and the tongue of the point may be through or by means of anysuitable deviceas, for example, a bell-crank lever. With such a leverand by disconnecting one of its limbs it will be possible at any time toeffect the operation of the point by hand should this be required.

By the employment of the connecting devices described theoperating-wheel may be placed at any required convenient distance inadvance of the point so that the driver of the car before reaching thepoint can see whether he has operated it correctly. The driver or otheroificial on the car or vehicle has only to depress or otherwise bringinto action the operating device on the car when he sees that the pointhe is approaching is wrongly set for him.

The accompanyingdrawings illustrate how my improved apparatus isconstructed and disposed.

Figure 1 represents in vertical section a con taining box for theoperating-wheel arranged by the side of a rail and also shows suchoperating-wheel and some of its connected parts, Fig. 2 shows across-section of the same box and the rail at right angles to Fig. 1 andshows the operating-wheel and other parts on its shaft in elevation.Fig. 3 represents in plan the parts and mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and2. Fig. 4 illustrates in plan the pointtongue and its operatingconnection. Fig. 5 shows in plan, on a smaller scale, a length oftramway-line and the relative positions occupied by the operating-wheel,the rail, and the point-tongue. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4C the cov- Thisrack is attached to the car or vehicle and may be normally lifted orraised and be depressed when desired to the position shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings, where it is just about to make engagement with the wheela. On the same shaft 0 as the wheel a and attached to the latter, so asto rotate therewith. is an eccentric disk or wheel (Z, surrounded by astrap or collar 0, to which is attached the connectingrod f. In thedrawings this rod is shown in its extreme forward position, so that thepointtongue it is held over to pass a car on the main track, asillustrated in Fig. 5. Upon the passage of the rack b in engagement withthe wheel (1, the latter makes a half-revolution, the eccentric diskmakes a corresponding half-revolution, and the rodf'is moved to itsextreme rear or other position, thus pulling the point-tongue over tothe opposite position. A further half-revolution of the wheel from therack of the next actuating-car restores the parts to the positionsillustrated. The other end of the rod f is connected to one limb of abell-crank lever r the other limb of which is connected directly to thepoint-tongue /L by a rod 7'. To effect this connection, the tongue mayhave an inferior projection which passes through a slot in the point boxor casing, so that the rod j may be directly connected to it. Thus asthe rod f moves backward or forward the pointtongue is moved to theright or to the left.

In case any of the mechanism should go wrong or be broken or should itbe desired for any other reason the point-tongue it may be directlyoperated by hand in the usual manner. To permit this, it is onlynecessary to remove one of the jointing pins or pivots in the bell-cranklever for example, the pin Z1-or the point can be operated by hand atany time it is required from the box l, which contains theoperating-wheel and its accessories.

Upon the shaft 0 is placed a rotatable sleeve or .collar m, carrying apawl '11 to engage with a ratchet-wheel 0, secured to the eccentric disk(Z. The collar or sleeve m is formed with a part containing a box orrecess 7), or it is otherwise similarly formed so that intermittentalternate angular motion may be given to it by any suitable implementfrom above when the cover of the box I is removed. When the requiredmovements have been given to the pawl and the ratchetwheel, theeccentric disk is moved sufliciently to reverse the position of thepoint-tongue.

is a sleeve lixed upon the shaft 0, which permits the rotation of thedifferent parts a, (Z, and m upon the shaft, but which restrains theiraxial movement along the shaft. This latter is preferably fixed andstationary and is secured in place by nuts 1 '2" to the face of the boxZ, the other end of the shaft engaging with or penetrating the web ofthe rail 3*.

Should the wheel a be damaged or require withdrawing or replacing, theshaft 6 may be withdrawn to the right of Fig. 2 upon the nuts 0' r beingunscrewed until the wheel can be removed or replaced. To allow the wheelto be easily withdrawn, it may engage with the eccentric disk by jaws a.

The rack 7) may be depressed or operated from the car in any well-knownor suitable manner. The lower face of the rack may be shaped to thecontour of the face of the rail a, so that it may be used as a scraperor cleaner when desired.

The boxes land 6 may be furnished with drainage-outlets Z and 2?.

Any convenient method or means may be employed for adjusting the lengthof the rod f or its attachments to the lever g or the cocentric disk soas to get a perfect movement of the point-tongue. For example, aturnbuckle, such as w and as shown in Fig. 5, may ,be inserted at anysuitable point in the length of the rod so that by rotating it its rightand left hand screwed ends may engage with the corresponding ends of theparts of the rod and lengthen or shorten them, or the end of the rod fmay be attached to the limb of the lever g by similar means to thoseshown in connection with the rod j and the pointtongue.

o indicates a car-wheel.

If desired, the rod 7' or some part thereof or the devices by means ofwhich it is connected with the point-tongue may have springs interposedin them, which while normally strong enough to compel the tongue to movewith the rod 7' would yet permit sufficient independent movement of thetongue to allow the point-tongue to give way if a car passed in thewrong direction over the point using it as a trailing point with thetongue wrongly set. With coupled points when the tongues aremechanically connected so that they move together one such set ofdevices or apparatus is sufiicient to move both tongues.

With apparatus constructed as before described the following advantagesare obtained The driver of an approaching car has complete control overthe points and at any required distance therefrom, as the actuatingdevice may be placed any suitable distance in advance of the points sothat the driver may see that the tongue occupies its correct positionbefore his car reaches the point. The operation of the points is simplymechanical, and the mechanism being very simple there is nothingas, forexample, springs-to get out of order. The mechanism is very durable andwill last a long time without renewals. There will be no kicking ofswitches, causing split tongues, with the consequent derailment of cars,as the tongue is always brought or sent home even if it be loose at theheel. The boxes in which the different parts are shown act or may actalso as drain-boxes, and they are so disposed that the apparatus isaccessible without the necessity for opening the pavement. If desired, apoint-tongue actuated by the mechanism described can be moved by hand atany time, as herein set forth. Mate-points? may be dispensed with andswitches (coupled) be used on both rails of the track instead. The rackor the like upon the car may also be used, when suitably shaped, forcleaning the rail-head or groove, or both.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is 1. In apparatus for operating a point-tongue fortramways or railways, the combination of an operating device attached toa car, a wheel capable of being turned a half-revolution upon engagementwith the said operating device, said wheel being journaled to rotate ina vertical plane, an eccentric or crank connected to the wheel, areciprocable rod attached at one end to the crank or eccentric, apoint-tongue, and means for connecting the rod and the pointtongue.

2. Apparatus for operating a point-tongue in tramways or railways,consisting of a wheel journaled to rotate in a vertical plane andcapable of being turned a half-revolution upon engagement with anoperating device carried by the car, an eccentric or crank connected tothe wheel, a reciprocable rod connected to the crank or eccentric andmeans for transmitting the motion of the rod to the point-tongue in sucha manner that as the rod is moved alternately in opposite directions thepoint-tongue is moved from one position to the other, substantially asdescribed.

3. In apparatus for operating a point-tongue in tramways or railways, awheel journaled to rotate in a vertical plane upon engagement with anoperating device carried by a passing car, an eccentric or crankconnected to such wheel and means by which the motion of the wheel istransmitted to cause the required n10- tion of the point-tongue,substantially as described.

4. The combination with a movable switch tongue or point, of atoothedwheel journaled in a vertical plane and having a portion of its toothedperiphery projecting up into the flange-groove of the adjacent fixedtrack-rail, and a connecting-rod forming an operating connection betweenthe said wheel and the movable tongue or point.

5. The combination with a movable pointtongue, of a member journaled torotate in a vertical plane and having its peripheral portion extendingup through the bottom of the groove or floor of the rail, means carriedby the car for imparting a partial rotation to the said member, andoperating connections between said member and the point-tongue,substantially as described.

6. The combination with the rotatable memher and the operatingconnections between the same and the point-tongue, of pawl-andratchetdevices whereby said member may be manually operated, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT CROSSLEY BULLOUGH. Witnesses:

WILLIAM GEO. HEYS, JOHN OCoNNIcLL.

